Senior Projects Associate

ABOUT ALU

ALU provides higher education for a higher purpose. Our students declare missions, not majors.
They develop the real-world skills to take on the world’s most pressing challenges. And they take ownership of their learning from day one through our peer and student-led approach – because ALU believes in the power and agency of young people to start shaping the future right now.
Together with a world-class faculty and staff, our students are igniting a ripple of positive impact across Africa and the world.

We are dedicated to fostering an open yet secure environment, balancing the safety of students, staff, and visitors with respect for individual rights, and safeguarding responsibilities.

HOW WE WORK

The ALU Team works in starkly different ways to traditional academic bureaucracies. We approach education from first principles, empower individuals to design, test, and implement creative new ideas, and work closely together to craft transformative learning experiences. We are deeply passionate about our students and excited by the challenge of building something entirely new.

The African Leadership University is committed to ensuring the safety and Well-being of all students under our care. As part of this commitment , we have a comprehensive safeguarding policy in place , which outlines our Zero-tolerance approach to any violation of safeguarding.

Role Overview

The Senior Projects Associate will be a core member of the Transformation Office, responsible for driving the execution of high-impact initiatives across strategic and technology-enabled domains (e.g., organizational design, operations, platform rollouts).

This role requires strong project management capabilities, comfort with ambiguity and the ability to collaborate across diverse teams and leadership levels. The candidate will lead cross-functional projects that span institutional strategy and digital transformation, ensuring alignment, momentum and delivery excellence.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Project Management

• Lead and track cross-functional initiatives, ensuring alignment with institutional goals and delivery timelines.
• Design and implement project charters, work plans, risk registers and stakeholder engagement strategies.
• Collaborate with department leads to define scope, success metrics and change management plans.
• Develop executive-ready dashboards and reports on project progress, risks and recommendations.
• Facilitate project kick-offs, check-ins, lessons learn ceremonies and strong documentation.
• Support the ongoing improvement of PMO processes, templates and tools.
• Assist with the intake, evaluation and prioritization of new strategic initiatives.

Digital Transformation Project Support

• Facilitate agile ceremonies such as sprint planning, reviews, retrospectives and daily stand-ups.
• Work closely with Product Owners and external vendors to maintain healthy backlogs and ensure delivery clarity.
• Monitor and report on sprint progress, ensure teams are adequately assigned tasks, and escalate blockers and risks as needed.
• Ensure digital projects remain aligned to broader transformation goals and business outcomes.
• Help translate business needs into actionable delivery plans and support cross-functional coordination.

Qualifications & Experience

• 5+ years’ experience in project management, consulting or transformation roles.
• Proven ability to manage both strategic (non-IT) and technical or IT-adjacent projects.
• Familiarity with agile methodologies and experience as a Project Coordinator, Scrum Master or Agile Project Lead.
• Strong facilitation and stakeholder engagement skills, with a record of cross-functional influence.
• Proficiency in project management tools (e.g., JIRA, Asana, Trello).
• Comfortable operating in fast-paced, remote and multicultural environments.
• PMP, Agile, or Scrum certification is a strong advantage.